Valero eyes fight at 140

Hilmar Rojas Erazo

By Hilmar Rojas Erazo

Once again WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero won by knockout. This time, in the second defense of his green and gold belt, he dispatched interim champion Antonio DeMarco in the ninth round on Saturday night at the Arena Monterrey. Billed as “La Gran Batalla” or “The Great Battle,” the fight was seen by U.S. fight fans on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, as well as Televisa in Mexico, and Golden Cable System and Meridian TV in Venezuela. In the ring, Valero carried out what he had planned to do in the gym during months of preparation: overcome his opponent’s height, not let him fight from long range, wear him out and break his spirit. Except for suffering a large gash on his right temple and a cut on his right eyelid, everything went pretty much perfectly as a badly beaten DeMarco did not come out for round ten and Valero cutman Mario Morales did a good job stopping the bleeding.

After the match, the classy DeMarco went to the locker room of the champion and thanked him for the opportunity to fight for the world title. “You’re a great champion, I wish you the best not only in the ring but outside as well,” he said.

“I demonstrated once again that I am a boxer, that I do side steps, and I’m technical. I’ve never said it, but all my team and the people around me know that I can box. It’s just that a majority of the fights have been against boxers who have gone out early,” said Valero moments after having his cut sutured up.

He added that he would ask permission from the WBC to take an optional fight at 140 pounds and WBC secretary Mauricio Sulaiman didn’t object saying it very possibly could be approved. “I hope that it can be in Texas against the “Baby Bull” Diaz so I can prove I have power in this weight catagory.”